HalfDragon
by Apron the Mouse on a Scooter
Summary: A young girl is transformed into a half-dragon. But in the end, she has two choices: either she will join the mysterious Dragonspine Mountains Half-Dragon Clan or her family will die.
1. The Spine Sword

Joanna emerged from her house. It was pitch-black out. She got a small candle and headed to the forest. It was time.

_Remember, this is your choice! Either your family is killed or you become one._

Joanna shuddered. It depended on the conditions outside which one she would become. She remembered the chart.

_Black midnight, no snow or storm of any kind=Shadow, Ghost_

_T-Storm=Thunder, Fire_

_Rain, Showers, Tsunami, or Snowfall=Ice, water_

_Normal, sunny day=Life, Light (advanced fire)_

_Cloudy day=Air_

_Earthquake=Steel, Ground_

_Animal Gathering=Animal, Insect_

She thought of the camp. Suddenly, a glimpse of firelight peeked through the dense woods. Joanna walked faster. Camp was so close now! She stopped as she came into the clearing. No animal gathering.

A man stepped up to her. A goblet of black liquid emitting dark purple smoke was set down on the ground in front of her. She glanced backwards. The stranger brought his cupped hands up. He let his hands drop at his sides and backed away. The liquid stopped giving out smoke and without moving the cup, it quickly flew out of the cup and then gently hovered over her head. Joanna closed her eyes, fearing the worst. Then the liquid dropped and covered every inch of her wih the dragon blood. It melted into her. She felt a huge, horrible yank in the gut. She was blinded by a bright light only she could see. She felt cold and wet for a moment. Then she felt as if steel jaws bit her. Then all the sensations were gone. Joanna could see. She felt refreshed. Then the new half-dragon walked slowly to her house and fell asleep.  
The next night, she packed up all her belongings. Her plush toys, blankets, clothes, and some soda pop and snacks, her laptop and her wireless charger, her toothbrush, her comb, sleeping bag, pillow, and a tent. She set out. Her room looked empty. Joanna trudged through the woods until she found a clearing far from home. She pitched her tent and arranged her stuff, but she left her toothbrush, comb, laptop, charger, and food inside her bag. But when she went back to her bag to get something to eat, she found a bone sword on top of the stuff. She took it out in its bejeweled sheath. Joanna took it out of the sheath and examined it. It was sharp and would cut open her finger when she just touched it. It was made out of a bone, and it had a bejeweled hilt. It had a neat rack of spikes in the back, with a straight line on each side. Joanna put it back inside the bag with its sheath and started nibbling on crackers and cheese. Then she packed the snacks up and fell asleep inside her sleeping bag.

When Joanna woke up, she packed up everything. As she zipped up her bag, she focused on the thought of a shadow dragon in her head. As soon as she let go of the bag, a black tail and black wings popped out. Scales crept over her body. Joanna grew to the immense size of a dragon and transformed into a full black shadow dragon. Her wings felt stiff. She stretched them out, heard a few noises that sounded like cracking knuckles, and took her bag. She felt it was useful for this and flapped once. She rose a few feet, then dropped back down. Joanna scowled. This time Joanna leaped into the air and then she started flapping. She felt free and joyous! The black dragon did a few happy loops and headed for the long-forbidden Dragonspine Mountains.

When the girl arrived at a black mountain, she swooped down to it and dropped out of her draconic form into snow. She shivered, but enered a cave. It was empty, but there were two items lying in the middle. They were items used to make a fire. There was a ring of large stones and wood by them. Joanna made a fire and warmed herself by it. Seeing that it did no good, she covered herself in scales to help. Joanna felt better. Later, she extinguished the fire. Joanna found a cozy spot in the cave and set up her stuff. She crawled inside the blanket and fell asleep. As she drifted off, a shadowy figure entered the cave and saw the sleeping girl. It vanished into thin air and reappeared beside her. It raised a scaly claw and rendered her unconscious. The figure took both of her hands and with one claw, it drew a picture that looked like one line with a crescent across it. From the sides of the moon, there were two stars. The hand bled from the wound. The creature blew on the wound and it instantly healed. In the wounds spot was a dark purple mark that glowed occasionally. It did the same to the other hand. As soon as she started stirring a little, the creature silently left the cave.  
Joanna woke up. She went to wake a fire in the ring of stones. But when she lifted her hand to roll a pebble around in it, she saw the mark. It was dark purple and it didn't glow. Joanna looked at the other hand. She saw the mark again. The girl took some cold meat strips from her bag and hung them on sticks. She rotated the sticks carefully to roast them. Then she took them off and silently chewed them. Joanna took a Sprite can and opened it. It fizzed for a moment. She took a gulp. Then she finished her meal and decided to leave for hunting. She took her sword and packed up the food. Then she decided to go down to the meadows below her cave. She turned into a dragon, swooped down, and resumed to her original form. Joanna took the bone sword out of its sheath and scoured the meadows. It was dark out, so she covered herself in scales for camoflauge. Joanna spotted a herd of deer. There was a clear, winding path which she took. Joanna decided to sneak up on one. She came up behind it silently... And plunged her sword into its neck. The deer froze and fell down. Joanna took out her sword and then stuck it in the ground to clean it. She waited in a bush until the wound clotted up. Then the blood stopped flowing and the girl hefted the deer. She took it behind the bushes, changed into dragon, and flew to her cave. She carried the deer and sword along. When she arrived, she took her sword and skinned it over a hole she found. Joanna scowled at the blood flowing into the pit but took the skin. She sawed off the wet part of the skin and took a long stick. She hung the skin on the stick to dry. Meanwhile, Joanna cut meat from the deer and took the antlers off. She put the antlers in a small hole and hefted the rest of the deer and threw it down a cliff. It hit the ground with a crash and a fox started eating it. Joanna cut the meat into strips and dried them. She slept once more in her sleeping bag.


	2. The Bell Toll

She unwarily yawned. Then her eyes snapped open, instantly on full alert. Some huge figure was standing n the entrance. A snarl ripped from the girl's mouth. "_Go. Away."_ The figure crouched at Joanna's words and got down on all fours. She took a threatening slash with her right hand and both transformed into claws. The creature advanced torwards her, growling. Joanna took up her sword in one claw and pointed it at the beast. A small flash appeared. The creature was a wolf with dragon wings. It was a Wolthane. A small bell resounded through the cave. It sounded like a jingle bell. The Wolthane backed away quickly to a boy in the entrance, still snarling. Then the boy clocked the beast on its back and spoke.  
"Laita! No!" Joanna put down her sword and her hands turned normal. Still wary, she questioned him. "What is your name?"  
"Matthew. Excuse Laita. He is scared that you will hurt me. What _are _you?"

Joanna bowed her head. "Excuse me?" Matthew repeated the question.  
"Half-dragon. My name is Joanna. Please don't treat me with awkward respect. I am not the natural born kind." She gestured to a log and lit a fire in the stone ring. "Please sit. Do you want something to drink? Soda?" She popped open a Sprite can and took an eager sip. Matthew's eyes lit up.  
"Yeah. Do you have Fanta?" Joanna rummaged in her bag and tossed him one. "Why are you here, number one?" Matthew glanced nervously at the back of the cave.  
"I ran away."  
"Oh, really? I did too. Do you want to live with me?"  
"I couldn't." Joanna hung her head at the boy's sentence. "Please, I would be glad! I'm lonely and I need a friend." Matthew raised his eyebrows at this.  
"I thought you are happier alone."  
"I ran away because I don't want people finding out and then killing me, thinking I am accursed. But friends are always nice to have around." She took out her laptop and powered it up. She typed something in, but the screen went black. She scowled and closed it. Joanna put her hands on top of it. Matthew stared in awe as flowing black smoke came out of both sides of her hands and crawled into the charging outlet. A few moments later, she booted it up again. This time, it stayed on. Matthew finally got over it.

"Ho-how did you--"  
Joanna interrupted him. "Are you willing to become a half-dragon?"  
Matthew nodded eagerly.  
"Matthew, there are many outcomes. Do it at night, you get shadow and ghost. Do it during a thunderstorm, you get lightning and fire. Snowfall or rain, water and ice. Earthquake, earth. Windstorm, air. Take your pick."  
Matthew considered some. "Air." He said.

A black ball rolled out of nowhere. Joanna picked it up and muttered an energy spell.  
"_Windstorms come and windstorms go,  
Some for ceremonies, some for show.  
This one is for transformation,  
Send one now, Lithtuion!"  
_The wind howled and shreiked outside the cave. It picked up enormous speed and then created a swirling wind just in the cave's entrance. Joanna transformed into a dragon and picked off three scales. A goblet appeared and collected the blood moving from the wound. When it filled three quarters of the way, the wound stopped bleeding. Three scales appeared in the others place. Joanna ground the scales on the floor into dust and put them in the blood. She transformed back and took the goblet. "Stand up, Matthew." She walked towards him and set the cup back down. Joanna brought her hands up in the coaxing motion the man made at her transformation.  
The blood turned half-clear, but it was still white. White smoke curled up. Then the blood stopped smoking and rose out of the cup. It hovered over Matthew's head before drenching him entirely. The blood melted away. Matthew felt as if air was taking him into the sky and then punching him in the stomach. He woke from the sensation and felt refreshed. He broke into a grin when he saw the girl again. The windstorm vanished and the goblet disappeared.

Joanna told him how to transform into a dragon and how to use his new powers. After three hours of lessons, she gave him a small meal of meat strips and some water. He wolfed everything down and smiled tiredly at her. Joanna told him it was time to sleep. She extinguished the fire and crawled into her sleeping bag. She closed her eyes and drifted off.


End file.
